Part 16 Essays on Reading Paintings (Four Articles)

(1)

Innovation "is almost the most frequently used keyword in modern and contemporary art, and no one has doubted the revolutionary significance of innovation. The government is also calling for "independent innovation". But the attitude of the Chinese art community towards innovation is quite interesting.

On the one hand, we Chinese people are no longer accustomed to innovation and prefer to follow the trend. We are accustomed to letting foreigners innovate, while we follow the trend. Of course, we never claim to follow the trend, we call it "borrowing". We have the right to "learn from" because Chinese people are not qualified to innovate because we are still in a "pre modern" or "pre industrial society". Westerners and Americans are precisely in a "post modern" or "post industrial society", and the fate of the "direction of advanced culture" is not with us. So Chinese people are accustomed to staring eagerly at the advanced Americans inventing new things. The most revolutionary task of Chinese art revolutionaries is to immediately follow up on "borrowing" and quickly sinicize in the shortest possible time, which is a cheap and effortless innovation. Some things may not be new in the West, but they can be new in China. In the early 1990s, there was a type of industrial ready-made product in the Chinese oil painting industry, such as stickers and gears, that was considered very new at the time. Later on, when I went to the United States, I saw that there were oil paintings from the 1920s and 1920s on display at the Metropolitan Museum. This suddenly dawned on me. The new China turned out to be the old America!

Another type of "innovation" can be referred to as "stylism" or commonly referred to as "costume monster". That is to say, if you invent a new style that is different from humans, you innovate. Most of these innovators are familiar with contemporary art styles and genres. They use steel wire to drill gaps in various styles and styles, and experiment repeatedly with materials, tools, and techniques until a unique style is successful. Objectively speaking, this type of innovator is truly innovative, relying on personal research and hard work to independently invent a new thing, which is not easy. This type of person can easily lead to success. They were able to succeed because of the presence of "stylist" critics. It can be said that most critics today belong to this type. This type of critic first looks at whether "new" is "new", that is, whether it is "independent innovation". If a painting's technique and style have never been seen before, critics begin to pay attention; If 'new' is not clever, it is better than the old; If there is still some formality in being 'new', then critics (or judges) should praise it. If it is very "new", that is, very unique and exquisite, then it needs to be highly praised, and the exhibition should have won awards. Painters should understand the "innovative" mentality or "stylist" thinking of critics or judges. Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to receive positive reviews or awards.

However, in my opinion, none of these 'innovations' are right. Because the "novelty" of art is not created, but naturally flows out of the heart.

The essence of art is to express one's aspirations based on emotions, to express one's aspirations in the heart, to speak as poetry, and to express one's emotions in the heart while taking shape outside. Art is born out of this inner emotion. If we are loyal to our own pure emotions and find a corresponding way to truly express our emotions, and thus move ourselves and resonate with readers, the uniqueness of your art is also within it, and "new" also appears. As the saying goes, it's a matter of course. This is called 'me'. What resonates and moves is not only the external style, but also the spirit within the style. In the early Qing Dynasty, Shi Tao, who said the aphorism "I am who I am, I am who I am", had a self talk that made people deeply moved: I used to see me using the four characters of "My Law" in the past, and my heart was filled with joy... But now I have realized it, but it is not the same. In the vast expanse of the universe, there is only one law. If I obtain this law, there is no way to be illegal. However, I must be bound to name it "My Law". I do not know what ancient law was? And what law was my law? In short, if one's intention arises, emotion arises, force arises, and force arises into institutional articles. In fact, it is only one of the original understandings, and then it can change endlessly, with varying scales The little-known inscription and postscript by Shi Tao is actually a wonderful aphorism in ancient Chinese painting theory. Shi Tao is one of the most diverse painters in the history of ancient Chinese painting, due to his respect for himself and his specific insights in specific time and space. Even if the "original enlightenment" is different from the previous feelings and conflicts with the painting methods used before, then it is still possible to start anew. Therefore, he also wrote, "In writing this volume today, we do not seek to conform to ancient methods, nor do we necessarily use our own methods. They are all based on movement and intention, emotions, strength, and articles, in order to achieve a scale of change. Therefore, the commentator refers to it as my method, and it refers to it as the ancient method, which is also indispensable.

Where is' new '? The new is in the process of changing from "one's original realization" to "endless changes and varying scales". Liu Xie once said, 'By emotions, one can understand and change, while by negative emotions, one can adapt to change.' Isn't the essence of change still the realization of subjective emotions and qi? There are many new paintings today, but touching ones are almost extinct, which is due to the drawbacks of innovation.

How to inherit and innovate Chinese painting is an old topic of debate in the Chinese painting industry. I believe that the inheritance and innovation of Chinese painting is an inevitable trajectory that no one can avoid. If you want to leave behind any party to create high-quality Chinese paintings, it is like a foolish person talking about dreams, just like a foolish person pulling out their own hair and wanting to leave the earth. I believe that not only must Chinese painting follow the laws of inheritance and innovation, but also all walks of life in the world. Literary and artistic works require more innovation. Delacroix once said: works need to belong to your own era, and attempting to go against the current or imitate the ancients is absurd.

How to inherit and innovate Chinese painting, I believe, should be explained from a macro perspective. The so-called inheritance is macro inheritance, and innovation is macro innovation. Many people will fall into a dead end where they believe they are limited to pen and ink, techniques, and other aspects. Inheritance and innovation should focus on creating artistic conception and generating vitality. It should be said that artistic conception is the soul of Chinese painting, the crystallization of the artist's subjective emotions and objective things. A work without artistic conception is a lifeless and decaying wood. Those who have artistic conception but are not superior will weaken the vitality of the work. With a high artistic conception, the vitality of a work is strong, and it can break through the limitations of time and space and become a masterpiece that has been passed down from generation to generation. Qi Yun is the essence and spirit of art, and only when Qi Yun is vivid can the artistic conception be full of artistic appeal. Therefore, the inheritance and innovation of Chinese painting should start from the construction of artistic conception and charm.

To make one's work grand and profound in artistic conception, and to innovate on the basis of inheritance, efforts must be made in the six words of literature, history, art, time, politics, and posture. Literature is literary cultivation. From the perspective of painters throughout history, the works of painters without profound literary cultivation are flat and dry. On the contrary, the works of masters with strong textual skills are only thick and majestic. Some people believe that foreign literature has nothing to do with Chinese painting. This is a narrow idea. By studying foreign literature, you can broaden your horizons and broaden your thinking patterns in your creations. History is history. Many works passed down from generation to generation have sprouted, grown, and blossomed on the basis of the painter's profound historical knowledge accumulation. Art is sister art such as poetry. Their inheritance and innovation will provide good experience and better help us open the door to creative thinking. Time is current affairs. By paying attention to the current changes in time and space, painters have achieved the grandeur and ease of opening and closing of their strokes. Politics is politics. Throughout history, most of the works passed down from generation to generation, both explicit and implicit, are related to political influence. Of course, the politics here are about painters having great politics in their hearts. The position, viewpoint, moral integrity, and other aspects of a painter determine the level, connotation, and taste of their ink works, and are also the driving force and decision-making power for the painter to inherit and innovate. State refers to the current mindset and living conditions of the people.

In the current art world, the works of many painters who have no time to put in effort in cultivation appear to be lacking in spirit, artistic conception, and essence. They don't know that Chinese painting is not just about painting techniques and strokes, but rather about the artist's own temperament, ideology, cultivation, connotation, and heritage. It is not difficult to explain why many painters in the Chinese painting industry were able to reform and become masters in their declining years. This also proves that Chinese painters, after years of profound accumulation and based on cultural, political and other artistic heights, have the impulse to interpret tradition, nature, and reality through deep thinking in various aspects. They use painting language, spiritual direction, and unique aesthetic touch to find ways to use new pen and ink, express intentions, and adjust color rhythms to expand the deep, broad, and novel core of the subject, Building one's own unique ideal holy land and creating a true, perfect, and beautiful artistic home is the only way to cultivate high-quality works that exude excellent traditions and a strong sense of the times.

(2)

Many years ago, some people joked that people with poor painting skills only created works that were careless, and if they were careless, they would become contemporary artists. Of course, ridicule belongs to ridicule. Contemporary art does not exclude realism, and non realistic contemporary art does not necessarily require technical content. However, at many contemporary art exhibitions nowadays, it is not easy to see works with technical content, and it is even more difficult to see realistic works with high technical content. Painters and critics often evaluate works made with more rigorous techniques and techniques, especially realistic works, which lack "contemporaneity". Indeed, in terms of current art on the shelf, the superficiality of narration, the blurriness of meaning, the nihility of value, the planarization of vision, and the low-end of technology seem to have become a common phenomenon.

The planarization of vision and the low-end of technology refer to no longer pursuing the visual effects of three-dimensional space in two-dimensional space, and no longer having any interest in the rich visual effects and aesthetic expressions that may arise from the grasp and application of colors, strokes, materials, and textures. The basic visual features of many works known as "contemporary art" include random smearing, dripping and scattering, bizarre shapes, and disorderly patterns. Many painters who possess solid realistic skills and are also dedicated to realistic painting have no choice but to be marginalized. Of course, it's not just realistic painting that requires skill, it requires technical content. Any kind of art requires technology and skill. Isn't art a product of the combination of "art" and "technique"?

As is well known, in the history of art, the classic works of art that have survived not only contain unique historical and cultural information of an era or a nation, but also reflect a certain spirit of the times. They must also be amazed by the perfect visual effects composed of exquisite techniques. It can be said that in the traditional sense, only those who possess a certain level of humanistic cultivation and unique artistic skills beyond ordinary people can become extraordinary artists. The emergence of art genres such as ready-made art, performance art, and conceptual art is to some extent a resistance and rebellion against the hegemony of traditional art "techniques" and the phenomenon of "techniques" becoming a spiritual aristocratic status and wealth for artists. However, as a traditional and continuously evolving form of art, easel painting is always characterized by its technical and technical attributes. In the bustling contemporary art world of China, the phenomenon of "temple fairs" often occurs, with various figures flocking in regardless of whether they have necessary artistic training and technical reserves. Many people who want to gain fame and fortune under the name of art, in order to attract attention and create topics, show their true colors, and various phenomena such as rough and shoddy, bizarre, and distorted emerge one after another. The technical content and skill of art have been dissolved. Contemporary art has become a new field that anyone dares to steal and venture into, and the contemporary art world has become a paradise for adventurers.

Liu Youju's illusion painting is completely different from "contemporary art" and is a truly artistic masterpiece with technical content and visual impact. Whenever I see Liu Youju's inspiring and passionate artistic masterpiece, my heart feels extremely shocked.

Both east and west, and east and west, are not things. If you paint well, they are all good things.

Liu Youju's illusory painting art is deeply rooted in the soil of traditional Chinese culture. He draws on the excellent achievements of all human civilization, stands at the height of crossing the time and space of Eastern and Western cultures with a broad mind, integrates the essence of Eastern and Western cultures, and breaks the long-standing confrontation between Chinese and Western cultures and the myth that cannot be integrated.

Liu Youju is a talented artistic master who transcends ancient and modern times, ink and color, east and west, time and space, and innovates in multiple ways.

Liu Youju advocates for "diversified innovation", transforming the traditional elegant lines of Chinese painting into highly tensile, bold and dazzling heavy colored ink; Breaking through traditional Chinese painting, there are many similar and ethereal composition techniques, creating a magical composition that is full of vitality and passion; The aesthetic orientation of traditional Chinese painting is not focused on lighting and advocates the tradition of ink and wash. With continuous strong light and bright strokes, it creates a masterpiece that spans the East and West.

Appreciate Liu Youju's recent series of paintings, with flying brushes and ink dancing, a colorful disc rotating in front of you, a mountain soul, a water soul, and a combination of vibrant life in nature. He refined various forms into lines, colors, and patterns, and then arranged, combined, and edited them into his own language, conveying the harmonious interweaving of abstract and concrete, intense and peaceful, gorgeous and indifferent, wild and elegant, natural and rigorous, masculine and feminine, and playing a symphony of the beauty of life.

Entering Liu Youju's works, the first color that catches one's eye always makes one feel dazed for a moment or two, thinking that they are admiring Western paintings of oil and paint on the canvas. The vibrant color halo flowing on the paper and the natural illusion of watercolor will suddenly awaken oneself, realizing that under the strong resemblance to Western painting, there is a soul flowing from the East, and then naturally be stained by the color halo formed by the fusion of ink and water, Deeply shocked.

But what are these colors trying to express?

Totem? Divine music? Under the solitary smoke of the desert, the Northern Pastoral Song? Flying in the Shadow of Dunhuang Buddha? Impression and abstraction, image and object, similarity in form? Suddenly, it was unintentional and lifeless, like a spirit? Delicate yet lifelike. Wu Guanzhong? Zhao Wuji? It seems like there's still more to be desired, Van Gogh? Picasso? It seems like a clutch... look again. In an instant, everything was nothing, and in an instant, everything was nothing. Is this me watching the painting, or is it watching me? I can't explain clearly, but the reasoning is still chaotic. Printing is the meaning, and illusion is the image. This is the so-called "image". However, one thing is always obvious: this is no longer a product of tradition, at least in the vastness of Chinese art history, the former cannot be found.

Suddenly realized: The heavy cube can be rebuilt, broken, and rebuilt, so this is subversion, this is change, this is creation. For a long time, Chinese painting has been in the hands of current painters, from brushstroke to brushstroke, from technique to technique, and after circling around for a long time, finally ushering in new creations under the pen of Liu Youju.

And then the question is: Are these contradictions that seem to have abandoned traditional painting principles while adhering to traditional spirit really a new trend in the development of Chinese painting?

Carrying a long-awaited hope but hesitating to believe it is undoubtedly a torment. For art critics, the endless expectations and doubts about the authenticity of Chinese painting creation are equally strong and urgent.

The author has repeatedly studied and believed that the reason why Liu Youju's paintings have brought us vastly different thinking habits is largely due to a long-standing "misunderstanding" in the Chinese painting world, which is that "literati painting is the essence or even all of Chinese painting". This viewpoint directly leads to the choice between inheritance and creation, as well as many of us who belong to the upper echelons of the Chinese painting pyramid, Also choose the "mainstream" that vassals follow. The result of the "inheritance of orthodoxy" in the Chinese painting industry is the formation of the traditional Chinese painting style of "ink and wash China", which has even become a standard for judging the quality of Chinese painting, that is, the degree of inheritance. This actually directly distorts the greatest inheritance of Chinese culture - the endless flow of the sea, so saying that "ink and wash is Chinese painting" is actually the biggest tragedy of ink and wash.

In response to comments that Liu Youju's calligraphy and painting have already been integrated with Western painting, the author speculates that Liu Youju's painting may not feel the huge difference between Eastern and Western art, but just wants to achieve that Chinese people love to watch, and Westerners also love to watch. In fact, Eastern and Western art can only have differences in understanding low-level atmosphere. Western painting also emphasizes brushstroke expression in order to have a moving vitality. Whether examining the beauty of brushwork from the perspectives of Impressionism, Modernism, or Surrealist painting, one will find that it shares the same path and achieves the same beauty in its internal meaning. Mr. Liu Youju "internationalized" the traditional Chinese painting language in ancient times, freeing it from rigid and fixed strokes and transforming it into a universal "language" with global significance.

Liu Youju's recent works, such as "Wild Rhyme and Fragrant Scenes", "Silk Thread", and "Grassland Luxury", exhibit a linear development in visual style, and can deeply feel that the surface of the painting represents the other, but in reality, it can be seen as an artist's personal life experience. It can be said that Liu Youju is using the artist's sensitive thinking to help us capture that special "beauty". His works such as' The Lotus Smoke ',' The Woodcutter's Song ', and' Spring Morning 'exhibit other stylistic features. In the use of colors, the purity of the colors used is high, but they appear very transparent. The main structure of his works relies on the tension between the large plane framework and colors, presenting a tangible and intangible state. This increases the subtlety of the painting language, thereby increasing the readability of the artist's visual information. The brushstrokes on the screen appear bold, incisive, multi curved, and block like, not truly reproducing the painting object, but endowing the painter with his own personality characteristic - freedom in the re creation of the painting object.

Painting, to have a feeling, must have a thrill like an electric shock. However, in an era dominated by painting concepts and visual symbols, the feeling of spirituality and passion is excluded and even exiled in mainstream painting. This is the sadness of art.

The current development of art is nothing more than two directions: returning to tradition and exploring new spaces. This is just the two ends of a rope, which is good or bad, and which is good or bad, history has its own consensus. But what we are fighting for here is the right to speak and the more practical art market economy hidden behind it. American culture can make movie stars become billionaires; As a developing country, China can also make painters become wealthy in a short period of time. Whether this phenomenon is normal or not indicates the cultural symptoms of the times. This may be the difference or similarity between China and the West. And no matter where they are, poor painters would rather be in Van Gogh's era (painting is still full of meaning), despite being impoverished, they can seek meaning from free painting.

(3)

The waves wash away the sand, and if it is real gold, it will definitely shine. We can see that as painters of the shape of time, in the rapidly changing era, painters have hidden a new perspective of ink painting through the surface of their images - that is, increasingly open ink thinking and open concepts. We can see in these works with open ink and wash thinking that some of them have new interpretations of traditional concepts. The concept, schema, language, and techniques of the painting have continuously broken through the established conventions and conventions of Chinese painting over the centuries, in order to revive and transform the complexity and antiquity of "tradition" into magic. Many painters have created a unique world of ink and wash, creating new ink and wash languages that reflect diverse social life and historical backgrounds from different perspectives.

Entering the 21st century, Chinese painting has ushered in the best development opportunity, striving to create handed down art classics full of national pride, era spirit, and Chinese style, becoming the common ideal pursuit of contemporary cultural people. How does Chinese painting develop in this new historical stage? What personality and temperament should contemporary Chinese art carry more humanistic missions? We need to explore and practice. Tolstoy once said, "The correct path is to absorb everything that your predecessors have done, and then move forward." Chinese painting has been going on for thousands of years, passed down through generations, and thrived endlessly, thanks to the wisdom of artists throughout history, constantly inheriting, creating, and surpassing. Painters have noticed that people's aesthetic needs are more freely and diverse during the open period. So, we must face up to the new elements that some of these works bring to Chinese painting, and have deeply and subtly experienced and expressed the complex survival feelings and concepts of contemporary people. They are deeply condensed, emotionally rich, and have strong visual and spiritual impact.

After a thousand years of decline, art is intertwined, and after a hundred years, its destiny is only new. The innovation of art is an eternal and unchanging topic, and it is also the source of brush and ink art, which is passed down and continuously flowing. Mr. Fu Baoshi once said, "Art is a mirror of society." The times are developing, society is advancing, and the diversification of artistic styles and the ultimate nationalization and globalization are the inevitable trend of artistic transcendence.

Eternal and everlasting, customs are unchanging, and the future will see the present as it did the past. The inheritance and transcendence of the intellectual nature of Chinese painting will continue to be demonstrated. Nowadays, it is in the current situation of the development of Chinese painting that Liu Youju's exploration of illusion painting has also provided us with more areas worth thinking about.

In the current art world, whether it is adhering to traditional literati painting or integrating Chinese and Western painting, they are seeking breakthroughs in the so-called self and era in modern society. Indeed, self-improvement and breakthrough are the long-cherished aspirations of every practitioner and the goals they strive for. Liu Youju's illusion painting directly depicts the nature of the mind, which is different from people and may seem easy, but it is precisely what many practitioners find difficult to grasp. The most important reason is that they do not "give up" and do not want to give up imported things, but instead cannot gain themselves, lose themselves, and abandon the essence of art.

For art, at any given time, there will be a minority occupying the truth. In the face of the extremely lively contemporary art circle, truth often lies on the edge, and from then on, it appears lonely and lonely. However, when sorting through the history of art, it is not difficult for discerning people to find that the towering peaks of each period are mostly outside the so-called "orthodoxy" at that time? So, history will not make lonely people lonely all the time, nor will it make lonely people lonely forever. The transmission of inner nature is a timeless truth in art. Although Liu Youju has moved away from the "system" and gradually drifted away, he has found his id and retreated to the most authentic and authentic part of his heart. Therefore, he will walk more sincerely and further. What history can remember is ultimately the master who can create a new atmosphere.

(4)

With the development of contemporary Chinese art to this day, the innovative development of realistic art represented by abstract painting has also changed its previous state of marginal art. Its strong momentum has attracted attention from the world, and non realistic art works have gradually entered the realm of elegance. From auctions in the spring and autumn seasons in recent years to professional art galleries and large galleries, non realistic art has gradually gained a place, with abstract ink painting art particularly emerging.

Abstract painting in China has become an art style with special significance in the field of Chinese painting. Although it borrows the term "abstract" from the West, the unique characteristics and cultural connotations of ink and wash make this artistic creation transcend the level of Western abstract painting and have essential differences from it; At the same time, the depth of the pen and ink language it creates and the contemporary spiritual images it interprets are also a positive rebellion against traditional painting.

Liu Youju's illusionist painting is another successful attempt after "abstract painting". Professor Huang Mingqian also fully affirms illusory painting, calling it "a phoenix that flies first in the transformation of traditional Chinese culture". He believes that "they originate from the contemporary context of Chinese cultural development. On the one hand, they critically target the language norms and schematic structure of traditional ink painting, and on the other hand, they seek the voice of ink painting on contemporary perspective issues through a shift in creative methodology, Phantom painting is more like a cultural trend or movement, with a powerful force that has sparked attention to new trends in the art world and led to a revolution in Chinese ink and wash art.

The biggest difference between illusion painting and other styles of contemporary art is that it has never stood on the opposite side of traditional and contemporary culture, nor has it attempted to transcend the logical development stage of national traditional culture to seek its own development. It is about having a sufficient understanding of the difficulty and complexity of China's social and cultural transformation.

In Greenberg's view, whether it is the reproduction art that is subject to authoritarian culture or the vulgar art that is subject to popular ideology, they are all enemies of artistic freedom. The basic position of avant-garde art is to criticize and prevent this vulgarity through a form of self reflection. Phantom painting is precisely using its elitism to maintain vigilance and distance from the market, fashion, and popular culture, which carries its avant-garde nature. Professor Guo Beiping said, "My understanding is that in the network of social life and the surrealism of daily media, Liu Youju's illusory paintings will help rebuild a new poetic perspective, evoke a more profound sensitivity and cultural stability - a anchorage that is not limited to a single avant-garde stance, whether in politics or aesthetics.

Researcher Wang Youyi from the Chinese Academy of Art said, "Phantom painting is close to the sound of nature and like a poem, not disturbing people's lives, but guiding us into the immensely tempting grassland. In this sense, Mr. Liu Youju directly touched the essence of art.

Art critic Chen Yusheng believes that "Liu Youju's illusion painting has an artistic philosophy. The philosophical approach determines the definition of nature by Chinese people, while religion adds life and spirit to the philosophical approach. Heaven and earth coexist with me, and heaven and earth merge with me. Zhuangzi opened the barrier between humans and nature, and humans began to interact with the spirit of heaven and earth. Liu Youju created his unique dream schema through philosophical means.

His paintings fully embody the spirit of Chinese art and aesthetic characteristics. He can transform his understanding of nature into an aesthetic image, and then transform it into a unique form, conveying the turmoil of the universe and the workings of nature within his power, creating a peaceful and profound image of heaven and earth. I believe that these works have created a broader aesthetic realm, showcasing an enlarged natural poetry table, which can only be created based on the spirit of Eastern art and the philosophy of the Chinese universe. Liu Youju not only successfully found a new visual style, but also because this form and style are rich in the imagery characteristics of Chinese art.